by Our Foreign Desk

THE head of the UN food agency warned on Tuesday that overwhelming humanitarian needs from the Middle East to Africa’s central Sahel belt are far outstripping donations.

Ertharin Cousin said that traditional donors had been more generous, but needs had escalated because of the increasing number of refugees.

Last year, the World Food Programme (WFP) needed $8 billion (£5.2bn) but received only $5.4bn (£3.5bn).

This year it also needs $8bn, but Ms Cousin predicted the agency would receive even less.

However, she hoped increased focus on Syrian refugees would lead to an increase in donations.

The WFP has had to drop one-third of Syrian refugees from its food voucher scheme this year, including 229,000 in Jordan who lost food aid in September.

But there are also concerns for 9.8 million Syrians still in the country.

Ms Cousin, who visited Yemen in August, recently said the war-torn country was just “one step away from famine” and that the assessment had not changed.

The WFP goal has been to help 2.5 million Yemenis in September, she said, but it will only reach 366,000 people.

“Right now, we’re at about 30 per cent of where we want to be,” she said.

In Iraq, Ms Cousin said that a lack of funds was forcing the WFP to cut rations and staff, reducing the number of people it helps from 1.8 million to 1.5 million.

The agency has received only $90 million (£59m), or 28 per cent, of the $323m (£211m) it needs in Iraq for the period from May to December.